Volvo S60 is ME COTY
Middle East Motor Awards 2011 also hands gongs to Aventador, Optima and Grand Cherokee
By Shahzad Sheikh
Read on to find out the winners for this year, and to hear my verdicts on their verdicts…
The Middle East Motor Awards 2011 was held on Thursday and a panel of 19 automotive experts from 10 countries including Lebanon, Oman, Jordon, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE got together and chose, as their overall Car of the Year the Volvo S60.
Interestingly when we did the CAR Middle East awards last year, we also gave the S60 saloon car of the year, but it’s curious that a) it’s a year old and b) that despite being an extremely competent and likeable car, it’s rather overpriced in our market – hence after more than a year on sale, I’ve only ever seen less than a handful of them on the roads.
Here are the other gongs handed out:
Best Supercar: Lamborghini Aventador
Well yes, this car defines ‘supercar’. Good choice.
Best Midsize Sedan: Kia Optima
Still think it’s a year late, but no quibbling this one, it’s practical, affordable, reasonably well equipped, reliable and absolutely sensational to look at.
Best Midsize SUV: Jeep Grand Cherokee
We voted this best Family Car in last year’s CAR ME awards and it remains one of our very favourite SUVs out there. I ran one for a few months, and it only confirmed what we already know : this car is so good, it’s like it’s skipped at least a whole generation in its development cycle.
Best Subcompact: Hyundai Accent
I haven’t driven this, but it’s a good looking little car and again great value.
Best Small Sedan: Hyundai Elantra
Ditto to the above; you just can’t help but acknowledge the amazing pace the Koreans are keeping up when it comes developing new cars.
Best Premium Sports Car: Porsche 911 GTS
Okay, now there’s no dispute that this is a great car (I always maintain that the best 911s are the lowlier 911s for being the most usable and satisfying sports cars). However there’s an all-new 911 showing out at the Dubai Motor Show. This 911 is old hat, and the GTS is a parts-bin run-out special edition.
Best Performance SUV: Porsche Cayenne
The Cayenne is another CAR ME award winner from last year, and it’s worthy of acclaim for finally turning around our opinion when it comes to the Porsche 4×4. Less offensive to the eyes and remarkably entertaining to drive hard.
Best Large Sedan: Dodge Charger
Totally with them when it comes to the Charger. It’s got it all: a practical four-door muscle car with superhero looks, stacks of kit, great performance and a decent price.
Best Executive Sedan: Audi A6
It is a great car, with very few if any faults. A little more character and emotion would be nice, but otherwise a worthy winner.
Best Performance Sedan: BMW M3
Don’t get this one at all. This is a) not a new car having been out for a few years and b) generally not readily available here – most buyers opt for the two-door coupe so dealers never import the four-door. Plus there’s a new 3-Series out soon and people are already speculating about the next M3.
Best Compact SUV: Kia Sportage
Again it’s a winner from last year in the CAR ME awards. Looks cool, makes a lot of sense. Apart from being a year late, no argument.
Best Luxury SUV: Range Rover
Admittedly it is quite simply the Rolls-Royce of off-roaders so well deserves to wear the crown, but there’s nothing new about it in 2011.
Best Truck: Ford F150
Why not just come out and say ‘Raptor’? That’s the coolest of all the trucks by far right now.
Best Sports Convertible: Nissan 370Z
The Chevrolet Camaro Convertible and the super-sexy Maserati GranCabrio would have been far better choices.
Best Premium Sports Convertible: Audi R8 Spyder
It’s the most thrilling car in the Audi line-up, drive a GT and it’s like self-injecting adrenalin. Good choice. Ferrari 458 Spyder next year though – surely?
Best Premium Sports Sedan: Mercedes CLS
I think they missed out a bit more to this. It should read: CLS 63 AMG. Ran that car for a month and it’s quite simply the best high-end sports sedan out there. In fact I made it Esquire Middle East Car of the Year!
Best Premium Subcompact: Volkswagen Golf R
Frankly I think it’s better to save yourself a bit of money and just buy a GTI, it does nearly everything the R can and is more fun. But then, what else is new in this segment? That’s one of the problem of having so many specific categories – there just aren’t enough cars in our market.
Check out the November issue of Esquire Middle East in which I select the Esquire COTY cars.
Don’t agree with their verdict or mine? Then say so below!
